


Call it what you want

by weestarmeggie



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Escort Service, F/M, Miscommunication, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:20:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25271542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weestarmeggie/pseuds/weestarmeggie
Summary: “You told me you had to work,” he said, voice like ice.Hermione swallowed and nodded. Stepping out of the grate, she dropped her heels to the ground.“I did. I was.”“Is Nott so bad of a lay it’s considered a job now?”
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger/Theodore Nott
Comments: 14
Kudos: 236
Collections: Career Day: A Dumbledore's Armada Flash Fic Competition





	Call it what you want

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [Career_Day](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Career_Day) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> Escort
> 
> Thanks to my beta who shall rename nameless for now.

If Malfoy was surprised to see her step into the Ministry ballroom on the arm of his best friend, he didn’t look it.

For which, Hermione supposed, she was grateful. 

Merlin knew the last thing any of them needed was a scandal derailing their Ministry careers with a provocative  _ Prophet  _ headline reading, ‘Draco Malfoy involved in punch-up with best friend and colleague, Theodore Nott, over what appeared to be Mr. Nott’s date, Hermione Granger,’ wouldn’t do any of them any favours.

He didn’t glare at her over the rim of his glass during the speeches.

Didn’t flinch when Theo guided them his way after the dinner and forced them to engage in the most awkward conversation of Hermione’s life.

Avoided glancing her way when they ended up behind him in the queue to Apparate out; when he’d looked up he’d stared directly past her, and Hermione’s heart had thudded heavily in her stomach.

She barely remembered the remainder of the evening, having eagerly accepted a vial of the shiny looking stuff Theo was knocking back like water, but when she left the next morning, it was with a hefty deposit of galleons into her account, confirmed by her account manager, Bheeha.

Draco was, unsurprisingly, waiting for her on the couch they shared as roommates when she stepped out of the Floo of their flat.

Tossing an empty tumbler between his hands, he looked up at her.

“You told me you had to work,” he said, voice like ice. 

Hermione swallowed and nodded. Stepping out of the grate, she dropped her heels to the ground.

“I did. I was.”

“Is Nott so bad of a lay it’s considered a job now?”

“Draco.” His hands were shaking, and Hermione wanted nothing more than to reach for him, to take his hands in hers and soothe him.

“You could have just told me, you know?” He sounded hysterical, and Hermione stuttered a laugh as she stared at the ceiling and willed the tears pooling in her eyes to stop. 

“I’m not exactly proud of it—”

“We didn’t make any promises—”

“—but it’s good money, and like you said—”

“—Theo is my friend, and if he makes you happy—”

“Wait.” Her eyes snapped open to meet his. “What do you mean, ‘We never made promises to one another?’” She clutched her chest and choked back a laugh as she stared at him. “You’re the one who left.”

“I actually had to go to work,” he said, standing from the sofa, glass tumbler clutched so tightly in his grasp Hermione wondered how it hadn’t shattered. 

He moved to step past her, mumbling, “It doesn’t matter,” but she grabbed at his wrist; his glare cut through her and she dropped his hand. “What?” he asked, demanding. 

“I didn’t sleep with Theo because he’s my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend, date, call it what you want, Hermione—”

“He paid me,” she said, the words blurting from her mouth with no permission. Draco stilled where he stood and turned to look at her slowly, one eyebrow lifting slowly in question. 

“Excuse me?”

Hermione blew a breath out between her teeth and dropped onto the sofa Draco had just vacated. She met Draco’s stare, refusing to baulk beneath the intensity of his glare. 

“Theo paid me to spend the night.”

“Like a hooker?” Draco asked. 

Hermione shot him a sharp glare and retorted, “Like an escort.”

Draco’s shoulders dropped, the tension bleeding from him as he murmured a quiet, “Oh.”

Hermione watched him drop onto the sofa beside her, and when he tentatively lifted her hand and linked their fingers together, she didn’t pull away.

“So you’re not in love with Theo then?”

Hermione snorted. She pulled her knees up under her chin and turned her head to meet his eye. “No. I’m not in love with Theo.” She tugged Draco’s hand to her face and dropped a kiss to his knuckles, never breaking his gaze. 

When Draco’s eyebrows lifted in surprise Hermione felt a blush heat her skin. “Seriously?” he asked, and Hermione shrugged. She pulled her hand from Draco’s only to find herself pushed onto her back, sprawled on the sofa with Draco leaning over her. 

He ducked his head, and Hermione shivered beneath him, goosebumps erupting along her bare arms when he whispered into her ear, “I’m not in love with Theo, either.”

When he pulled back, his mouth was twitching with the effort not to smirk, and Hermione burst into laughter, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his face down to meet hers. 


End file.
